Cinnamon Chip Scones

I have been meaning to make cinnamon chip scones for a while and I finally got some cinnamon chips from Wilbur Chocolate store in Lititz, PA. It was after we went to Hershey Park but before we went to Dorney Park in Allentown, PA. We liked Dorney Park better - smaller crowds which meant less people and some very cool steel roller coasters, including Steel Force which had a 205 foot drop and Hydra which started with a slow corkscrew roll at the very beginning. Even though I knew it was coming, I was still pretty surprised.
Anyway, the scones were okay. I didn't incorporate the butter enough into the flour so they were a little drier than I like and the dough was fairly dense. They should have been lighter, flakier. The flavor was okay. I also rolled the dough out to about 1/2 inch thick like the cookbook said to. I used the King Arthur recipe. My wife later made chocolate chip scones as well as cinnamon chip scones. She used a food processor to mix the butter and flour and rather than rolling them out, she just made round balls of dough. Hers definitely tasted better.
I have pictures somewhere on my hard drive, but I can't find them. Will try them again next week and see how it goes.

Fiberglass repair on Phantom

I purchased a trailer to carry my Sunfish rather than put it on the roof of the minivan, which could get rather awkward. If you have ever purchased a trailer, it usually comes with a boat attached to it. In this case, the boat is a 13 foot Phantom with two holes in it. One in the hull along the waterline and the other on the deck:

I did some research on the internet and figured out the basics of fiberglass repair on boats. What I did not find out is what to do when you don't have access to both sides of the side needing repair. You are supposed to fiberglass both sides of the hole. So what I did was first clear out all the weak and cracked fiberglass around the hole and then sanded out the old gel coat. I then put blue painter's tape around the hole to protect the "decent" finish around the hole.

In order for the fiberglass have something to stick to, rather than just fall into the hole, I cut out a piece of cardboard a little bigger than the hole, put gorilla glue around the edges and reached through the access port and held the cardboard against the deck until it stuck. For the hole on the side and bottom of the hull, I could not access the hole from the inside. So I again cut a piece of cardboard a little bigger than the hole, put gorilla glue around the edges, took two strings (the core strands from an old dynamic climbing rope in this case) and used them to pull the cardboard against the hull. The picture makes it pretty clear. I put a knot at the end of the string so it wouldn't pull through the cardboard.

The next steps were cutting the fiberglass, mixing the resin and them applying the resin to the fiberglass. The resin sets up quickly so you have to move fast. I should have had more fiberglass cut and ready to layer on to the hole in the deck as it really isn't flush with the deck. The smaller hole on the bottom came out much better.

The final step was to add the gel coat, which sets up even faster than the resin, came out fairly well. Technically, I was supposed to match the color of the gel coat to the color of the boat. I did not do that. It could also use another layer of gel coat. However, as this is my first fiberglass repair, to a boat I essentially got for free and it is not a great boat to begin with, I am pretty pleased. The way I figure it, there are fiberglass repairs to a your 20 foot Chris Craft or your Hunter 240 and then there are fiberglass repairs to old Phantoms. As long as it doesn't leak, I am happy.

Baguettes - Another try

I tried some baguettes again. This time I used a recipe from The Bread Bible , given to me by my brother-in-law and his wife. An excellent book and I plan to bake as many recipes as I can from it over the summer. This recipe did not call for a Poolish or starter like the King Arthur recipe did that I used last time. So it was quicker to make. It also called for more yeast - 1 and 1/2 tablespoons - than the other recipe. So it rose extremely well.
The other change I made was that I used 6 cups of King Arthur unbleached four rather than 3 cups of cake flour and three cups of regular flour. The weather was extremely hot and muggy. The weather report said the humidity had dropped, but I didn't feel it. But when the temp is 85 and the humidity is say 80% rather than 95%, what really is the difference? I certainly can't feel as I sit, sweat dripping down my back and chest.
The bread tasted fine, it didn't have the tang that the King Arthur recipe did or the air pockets, so I prefer the taste of the King Arthur recipe better.

My biggest problem baking this getting the dough rising in a baguette pan:

onto the extremely hot stone (450 degrees) in the oven without destroying the logs or my hands. The King Arthur blog suggests letting the baguettes rise in cotton cloth dusted with flour, a couche, like they do in France. But I am still not sure how to get them from the cloth to the extremely hot stone without creating a fire. I tried using the dull side of a cleaver and my hands, which worked okay, definitely not ideal.

Finally, I put ice cubes and then water on a paella pan to get the steam. Next time I will mist the dough.

Challah Bread

Hello, I made Challah bread for my Dad's birthday. I made it in the morning and then we took my Dad on a tour of the Grey Sails Brewery in Westerly. We all liked the Flagship Ale the best.

The Challah bread recipe is from Kings Arthur's Baker's Companion. I basically followed the recipe except I added two egg yolks rather than two whole eggs and a yolk so the bread was a little drier than normal but still tasted fine. It is basically like cake but it a bread form. I highly recommend it.

New Portable Work Bench

      This is the new work bench I built. I used plans from HandyMan magazine - November 2012 - and then made some modifications. Since I am tall - 6-8 - I made the bench 40 inches high. I also made the back of the workbench open, rather than closed as suggested so I can get tools off the shelf rather than lifting up the extension every time I want to get a portable drill or circular saw.

     I also reused old drawers from my old work bench to save time, though on reflection, building brand news ones would have been easier since I could have made all the measurements the same and I had plenty of extra plywood. I also purchased new pegboard and hooks from Home Depot so I can find tools much easier now as well as get tools off in one place, rather than all over my basement.

    I also put wheels on it so I can move it around the basement as needed. I generally like the idea, though the extension doesn't doesn't feel as sturdy as I am accustomed to. If you do a lot of work that requires a vise or vises, this is not a good work bench. I do have two vises that I can easily take on and off, but only on the sides. I may decide to put my heavier vice on it, just not sure where and how it will "interfere" with the extension (or my knuckles - when I reach underneath the bench to get a tool.

Making Challah Bread

After no power for four days, I decided to celebrate the return of electricity by baking a celebration bread - Challah from the King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion. I have tried it before and it is always tasty. I followed the recipe except it rose for about an hour and 30 minutes for second rising rather than 45 minutes as the book recommended. I also used sesame seeds rather than poppy seeds since we had them laying around.
For the ingredients, I used King Arthur's unbleached all purpose flour, regular table salt and white sugar as well as canola oil.
The first rising was slow and didn't seem to double in size, but as one can see from the picture, the bread did rise enough to make a good sized loaf. I used four braids of dough to make the loaf. My daughter did the first few weaves and then I finished the loaf.

Taste - the crust is dark and crispy and the loaf is moist. My daughter claims she needs a bigger piece to get the full effect of the bread. She said it is cake like but not too heavy. It is moist and fluffy. I recommend it. Especially after losing power for a few days.

Baguettes Attempt 1

First attempt to bake baguettes since last year. I used King Arthur recipe, used warm water instead of cool water and also use mixer with dough hook to knead - about 4 minutes total. I needed to add about 3/4 cup of flour since dough was very wet. The weather was hot and humid and my house does not have AC.
Bread rose fine and was still very wet the whole time it was rising and I was working on it. I used a baking stone as well as a cast iron pot and 3/4 cup of water to create steam effect. I could have possibly made 4 loaves or divided dough more equitably. One loaf is much thicker than the rest. The other two also taper a bit two much as the end. Poolish was fine. No problems with the bread rising.

Next time - use cool water instead of warm water. Also might try a bit more flour on humid days.

Texture - Hard, crunchy crust and the interior has small, fairly uniform air pockets
Taste - slight sour taste, definitely different than the standard bread made with either 100% "regular" flour or 1/3 whole wheat flour and 2/3 "regular" flour.